Pierce County hasn’t finished its first ranked-choice voting election. But already some are asking: Should there be a second?

Voters have weighed in once, approving the system in 2006. Whether ranked-choice voting survives might depend on what they thought of it when they used it for the first time this month.

Supporters say the system gave voters real choices and led to meaningful races, some of which are still too close to call. They say it makes no sense to scrap it after one test run.

“I think it’s a grand experiment that should go on for another couple years,” said Councilman Dick Muri, R-Steilacoom.

Critics say the system is too confusing and contributed to long waits at the polls on Election Day.

“Most of the people who have talked to me about ranked-choice voting are not happy,” said Joyce McDonald, a Republican from Puyallup who ran for and appears to have won a seat on the County Council. “If it comes before me on the council, I’d be willing to send it back to the people.”

PREVIOUS IDEAS

When voters approved the system, many were angry about the demise of Washington’s traditional “blanket” primary.

Under the old system, primary election voters could choose candidates from different parties to advance to the general election. For example, you could pick a Democrat for governor and a Republican for attorney general.

Political parties objected to that system, saying it infringed on their right to pick their nominees. They successfully sued to overturn the blanket primary.

The result, for a while, was the “pick a party” primary, which required voters to state a party preference and limit their vote to candidates from that party.

Voters revolted. Statewide, the result was the “top two” primary used for the first time in August. In Pierce County, the result was ranked-choice voting.

The new system eliminated the primary election for most county offices. Instead, all candidates for an office advanced to the general election. That’s why there were four candidates for county executive and six for assessor-treasurer on this year’s general election ballot.

Voters ranked the candidates in order of preference. In some races, one candidate received a majority of first-choice votes and will win. In others, no candidate received a majority, so the winner will be determined by a process of elimination.

Under that process, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. The votes of people who picked that candidate are then distributed to their second choice. If their second choice is eliminated, their third choice gets their vote.

The process of eliminating candidates and redistributing votes continues until one candidate has a majority of votes.

VOTERS WEIGH IN

Sound complicated? Some voters thought so.

Detractors sounded off in calls to their elected officials and in letters and online comments to The News Tribune.

“I still do not understand it,” said one respondent to a News Tribune online Hot Button poll. Ranked-choice voting “is complicated and demands too much time to determine the outcome.”

“What happened to the concept that whoever receives the most votes is the winner? There is not any requirement for a candidate to receive greater than 50% of the vote,” wrote another reader. “… Scrap the RCV system, it is not needed and unnecessary.”

Elections officials say ranked-choice voting has contributed to delays in counting ballots. Each voter filled out two ballot cards – one for regular elections and one for ranked-choice voting. That means election workers have about twice as many ballot cards to count, leading to delays.

Election officials also say voter confusion contributed to long lines on Election Day, though it wasn’t the only cause. Because voters weren’t accustomed to the new system, many asked questions and took longer to vote than they might have, the officials said.

Muri said a lack of polling places was a key reason for the long lines. Others say election officials are exaggerating the impact of ranked-choice voting on counting ballots.

Still, there’s no doubt some voters are unhappy.

“Most of the folks I hear from are pretty dissatisfied,” said County Council Chairman Terry Lee, R-Gig Harbor.

Tens of thousands of voters filled out surveys on the system distributed with absentee ballots and at polling places. But McCarthy said the surveys probably wouldn’t be processed until after the election is certified Nov. 25.

“I think the verdict’s out as far as the public’s concerned,” McCarthy said, but added, “They will tell us.”

Already, there is talk of repealing ranked-choice voting. McDonald said that if voters had a choice, they might decide the state’s top two primary is better. Under that system, the top two vote-winners in the primary election advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation.

“I really believe the top two is a better system,” McDonald said. “You have a clear choice.”

Repealing ranked-choice voting would require an amendment to the county charter, which would require voter approval. Lee said there’s no specific proposal to do that yet. But there may be soon.

“I think we will talk about it,” Lee said.

GIVE IT A CHANCE?

Supporters say talk of repealing ranked-choice voting is premature.

“I certainly don’t think you get rid of a voting system after using it once,” said Lyz Kurnitz-Thurlow, president of the League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County.

Kurnitz-Thurlow acknowledged there was some voter confusion. But she questioned whether the county did enough to educate voters about the system.

Supporters say confusion will fade as voters get accustomed to the system, but its merits will endure. Chief among them: real choices on Election Day.

This year there were 22 candidates for seven county offices in the general election. In 2006, under the pick-a-party system, there were six candidates for five offices in the primary and general elections combined.

“I love that we had four candidates for county executive and six for assessor-treasurer” this year, Kurnitz-Thurlow said.

One result of the proliferation of candidates is that those two races are so close that they remain undecided. But that’s not a bad thing, said Kelly Haughton, a finance executive and one of the new system’s chief proponents. He said it’s better to have truly competitive races than races that are a foregone conclusion.

Haughton would like to expand ranked-choice voting to other local elections. That could save local governments money by doing away with costly primary elections, he said.

Some officials are talking about ways to improve the system. Muri has sponsored a proposed charter amendment that would move county elections to odd-numbered years.

Muri said county races get lost on ballots that also include candidates for president, governor and other high-profile races. He said county offices would get more attention in odd-numbered years, when municipal elections are held.

Muri said the lower turnout in odd-numbered years also would make ranked-choice voting more manageable for county elections workers.

Other council members reached last week were receptive but noncommittal on Muri’s proposal. He’s not surprised.

“People have got to digest what just happened,” he said.

David Wickert: 253-274-7341

blogs.thenewstribune.com/politics

Hot Button Poll: Scrap ranked choice voting?

Ranked-choice supporters and opponents have been carrying on a lively debate on thenewstribune.com. Nearly 400 readers have voted in an informal online poll (running 78 percent in favor of scrapping ranked-choice voting) and more than 100 comments have been left on the poll, and on stories and the Political Buzz blog. Here’s an excerpt from our online discussion.

Wouldn’t (it) just be better to choose a simple election method which would be the most direct, simple way to reinforce the public trust? Does anybody really trust an algorithm which I wouldn’t trust or understand?
N7UNO

Long lines at polling places were caused by the body politic’s desire to participate in democracy. This is a bad thing? For weeks there was coverage of people waiting in line for eight hours in early-voting states. Pierce County was not the only place with a huge turnout. Folks who voted at the polls should have been able to plan for such an event.
BFLINT

Long lines at the polls in Pierce County – a phenomenon NOT seen elsewhere in Washington State – was a direct result of RCV. Voters had to cast TWO ballots, and had a hard time with the RCV ballot. The RCV ballot slowed things down tremendously.
JIMKINGJR

I suggest that if the auditor’s office had not cut 40 percent of polling sites, RCV would have run a lot smoother. Unfortunately, that poor decision on top of a major historical election caused a distorted view of how RCV would work here besides trying to force people to abandon the polls and switch to mail-in votes. Maybe the polling site issue would be a better starting point for change.
LDOZY123

I want the ranked-choice voting scrapped as a very bad idea. I am a Republican and I want to choose who our party puts forth for the general election. I know you Democrats want to choose my party’s candidate, but that is not only wrong but unfair. If you are an independent then either put forth your own candidate or wait for the general election and vote for the person you feel is best suited for the job.
TOMNFIFE

I would like ranked-choice voting if the Pierce County auditor actually took the time to explain it better, didn’t tell us how difficult it was going to be and then not post any returns in any race for over two hours after the polls closed. This election was the worst run one I have seen in a long time. … It needs another chance but it needs to be run correctly: computers that can handle the tabulation, education of the voters and polls that are organized.
warbuff

RCV is the norm in many nations and several large jurisdictions in the US. It gives the voter some real control and the chance to send messages much more than the usual method of voting. I like the fact that if my first choice doesn’t get in that I can still speak up for someone I don’t completely hate!
Avosetta

It wasn’t that I did not understand the ballot or the process in which the votes are tabulated. I just believe you should have one vote for the candidate of your choice. It doesn’t benefit anyone to have a second or third choice. You just vote for the candidate you would like to see win. Can you imagine what a mess it would be if we had the RCV in place for picking a president?
good2bme

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